~ Thinking outside the box about Cambodia

Monthly Archives: June 2016

Hope you are not bored by what you are not hearing or reading in the City of Tonlé Buon Mouk. It’s looking dull and every politician’s sterility of ideas and perspectives looks not only arid but famished, where the whole world is flooded with people thinking how to overcome Brexit and its consequences on world economics, to project the US elections outcome, and even … to lament Messi for missing the goal at Copa America finals, or England for another “Brexit” from Europe 2016 executed by Iceland!

Against this background, what do Cambodians have for themselves besides boasting in front of the TV screens about which team they root for as if they are the coaches of those teams or if they are super-experts in European soccer or if they were bookmakers!

Nevertheless, there is one area that might give you a small impetus to quietly thinking why such a thing could happen and seems to be accepted as acceptable anomaly. It’s about the “exiled” and the “confined”, two parliamentary personalities leading an opposition to nowhere, except the verbal-promises-without-actions for 2017 and 2018. Only in Cambodia that such things can happen, strangely and badly.

So, Kacvey, since nobody outside their closest and most inner political quarter has ever heard how they communicate between each other, let create an imaginary dialog between the two of them and outside the radar/antenna of the “a cu”. This is how the dialog would go:

Exiled: How’s life in the party headquarters converted into living quarters?
Confined: Not as comfortable as yours in France, but I can manage.
Exiled: It must not be fun to be alone in bed at night.
Confined: Taking a lot of cold shower and practicing yoga to keep the little monster tamed.
Exiled: It’s been a month now and how long do you plan to hang in there?
Confined: Can I return the compliment? How long do you plan to stay away in “Paree”?
Exiled: As long as the “other guy” continues to threaten to lock me up when I get to Pochentong.
Confined: Then, I’m hanging in here until the same “other guy” changes his game plan.
Exiled: Will he?
Confined: Don’t know, but from the windows I can see his stooges in dark glasses and machine guns hanging out not too far from the compound, 24/24!
Exiled: So you won’t come out on your own?
Confined: You’re crazy! We’re dealing with a maniac here! The “other guy” seems to have no more of game plan of his own. He might be expecting or hoping that I get sick and need to be hospitalized.
Exiled: Why then doesn’t “he” decide to storm the compound, the place doesn’t have immunity?
Confined: Too risky for him as I am not a fugitive. He knows when to accelerate and when to brake.
Exiled: Why Interior or Defense or Justice or Information keep so quiet, and let only the spinning dogs do the talking?
Confined: They seem to silently say “You make up the whole mess, you have to fix it yourself.” They use the spinning dogs to test the field but I don’t give a damn to these dogs. Let them bark until the moon disappear!
Exiled: What do you think the guy from the Northeast country would have thought or said when he was in the capital in mid-June?
Confined: What make you think that he might have approved and supported it?
Exiled: Internal affairs without consequences to the Northeast country!
Confined: He was in the capital to make sure that there will be no “consequences!”
Exiled: Are you okay when some of our guys leave you for Manila?
Confined: Hey, Qué sera, sera! If they want to storm the compound, would these couple of guys be able to resist or stop them?
Exiled: I got bashed in Lowell where people now speak a different language than in 2103.
Confined: Why did you decide to go there at the first place?
Exiled: Campaign for continuous support, fund-raising and meet US politicians.
Confined: Khmer-Americans and US politicians are different breeds. And besides, they want to hear different or new things. First generation of Khmer-Americans who came to the US as refugees are not the same as their children who are now adults and have their own mind.
Exiled: Are you and I still “one person” as when we created the party in Manila?
Confined: Hard to say and re-define. You in Paree, me in the compound, and how long can we let things going on like this?
Exiled: Would you be able to lead the party alone if I decided not to return at all?
Confined: Before doing that, start with the resignation from the NA. Then, we’ll talk.
Exiled: Tough move. A party with two top leaders in “physical” and “geographical” disarray does not display an image of confidence, unity and strength.
Confined: The ball is in our court, and we have to decide, and the sooner the better. You are in a safe place, and your safety is your main concern. Safety or politics? I am local, I don’t have dual nationality, and I’m used to be close to the constituency; the “other guy” knows who I am, and I know who he is. I was jailed and I did not need a pardon from the royal palace.
Exiled: If so, why did “he” trap you in this bedroom story?
Confined: He trapped me because he can’t find my political weakness in the same manner as he did to you; he played dirty because he wanted to damage my reputation among the population before the elections. But it doesn’t work for him. Remember: “errare humanum est.” He’s no exception. Right now he’s playing with time and patience to extract himself from his self-made quagmire; the jailing of human rights activists and the Black Mondays are all smokescreen to hide his faltered ego.
Exiled: “Faltered ego”?
Confined: His social media account has been hacked more than once! He who trusts it like he does to god as his own weapon for his ego and against you!
Exiled: I’ll discuss with the guys in Manila.
Confined: There must be a time when talking has to stop and doing has to start.

Since all the “red flag with gold star” have been removed from public places, you must feel “decolonized” and could breath some air of “Khmerness” although the ex-KRs in power must now be re-strategizing on the “co-operation” imposed by the successor of those who put them in power in the City of Tonlé Buon Mouk 31 years ago.

That being said, you might be interested in hearing a dialog between two Khmer citizens on the following Monday, but please do keep this away from the “a cu” as their wiretapping devices had missed it:

Sarong: Why are you dressing all in black on a Monday?
Sampot: I’m mourning the “death of democracy and freedom.”
Sarong: But people wear white when mourning?
Sampot: I decide to wear black, because it’s a double mourning. It’s my own choice.
Sarong: Double mourning?
Sampot: Yes, double: “democracy and freedom” and “sovereignty.”
Sarong: “Sovereignty?”
Sampot: Yes, “sovereignty.” Cambodia has lost its “sovereignty” to the Northeast neighbor.
Sarong: Oh, got it. You mean the guy who was here on 15-16 June with all the “red flag with gold star” at every corner of the streets. They will arrest you if they see you.
Sampot: Let them arrest me if they wish; it won’t change anything as they beat or arrest or wiretap anybody they don’t like.
Sarong: If they lock you up, who will look after the kids?
Sampot: It’s a question that should be asked to the guys who would arrest me since I have not committed any crime against the society.
Sarong: You will be accused of helping the opposition as they don’t know that you are mourning.
Sampot: You see, they don’t know anything about me nor my idea. They use the color people wear to judge their ideology; and even if people wear colors they will still be able to accuse the “black” color of the shadow!
Sarong: Do you mean that I could be arrested too?
Sampot: Of course, you could be. It’s Monday, you wear black shoes, you dye your hair black, your shadow is black!
Sarong: I’m wondering why they are so afraid of the black color outfit.
Sampot: Stop wondering on such an easy issue. Thy all wore black when they were KRs; now they become ex-KRs and embrace power and corrupted money, their instinct went straight back to the image of the old time which becomes a haunted color. Hiding their secret in plain daylight, that’s what they believe. But, they are free to stupidly think that way.
Sarong: Don’t they wear black suits on Monday too, do they?
Sampot: They always do. For example, do you remember the photo-ops at every not-so-clever ASEAN meetings when they crossed their handshakes or even standing at the podium of Koh Pich’s conference hall vociferating endless nonsense? But now they change to dark blue or gray. They are not dumb, the guys!
Sarong: And hypocrites, too. Are you on the voting rolls in your district?
Sampot: I hope so as I already have my card.
Sarong: Why “hope”? Look like you are not sure.
Sampot: How can I be sure, I have not seen the rolls?
Sarong: In my village, many new settlers are rushing to register. I don’t know where they come from and many of them speak Khmer with a terrible accent.
Sampot: It’s the same and all over the places: Svay Rieng, Préy Véng, Takéo, Kampot, Kg Chnang, Kg Cham. Sarong, don’t pretend not to know where they’re from: “Nan Yue”, that’s where they are from!
Sarong: Why are they so interested and involved in the elections? How much do they know about the politics of the country?
Sampot: Thy don’t need to know anything; all they have to do is to vote for the ex-KRs’s party. The ex-KRs allow them to come and settle here as a vassal-like debt payment for their being put on the power pedestal since 7 January 1979; so, it’s time for these guys to do something in return.
Sarong: The ex-KRs’s party is then fully assured of the numbers.
Sampot: That would be a very correct projection.
Sarong: Then we, Khmer, must do something to counter that.
Sampot: That’s right. We all must.
Sarong: Firstly, all Khmer must go to vote en masse. If we vote en masse, we will outnumber and defeat them.
Sampot: Secondly, we must vote our conscience to reject the ex-KRs.
Sarong: Any vote against the ex-KRs is a vote for a different Cambodia in future.
Sampot: And thirdly, we all must wear black, from head to toes, when going to and queuing at voting booth.
Sarong: Even not on a Monday?
Sampot: Even not on a Monday. All in black, even you.
Sarong: If they see so many people in black congregating to vote, they will arrest all of them, won’t they?
Sampot: We shall see whether they will be able to transform the whole country into a jailhouse.
Sarong: They already did when they were KRs in 1975-78.
Sampot: Then, they will repeat their own history. And confirm their origin!!!
Sarong: Let spread the words: Wearing black on elections day!
Sampot: That’s the grass root’s moral revolution to de-mourn the double death of “democracy and freedom” and to recover our “sovereignty.”

Two imaginary guys were chatting in a body shop at KM6, just North of Spién Chruoy having his truck undercarriage reinforced; Nam Yang, a fictional driver was having his truck undercarriage reinforced; Ti Ba, a fictive mechanic attending to that job.

Nam Yang: So, just heard that Ti Mauk is coming on 15 June. Are you closing the shop on that day?Ti Ba: Only in the morning. I’ve been told to go to some place to greet him with flag waving.Nam Yang: You must be excited. After the “Mé Tié Hién”, it’s now the big guy.Ti Ba: They have to come to make sure that my friends and I are doing a good job in keeping the two people closed to each other.Nam Yang: How long he’s going to be here?Ti Ba: Just 2 days: 15/16 June. Guess, it’s enough time to hear the local reports straight from the horse’s mouth.Nam Yang: The written reports sent daily up North must not be reassuring?Ti Ba: Not quite. The guys down here seem to lose control and the issues have become too big for them.Nam Yang: I don’t quite understand. They control everything that moves or doesn’t?Ti Ba: Sure, they control, but they control without knowing what to do next; they control what they think they control, but there are tons of things on which they have absolutely no clues.Nam Yang: They suck, right?Ti Ba: See, up North, we change, leadership or otherwise. Here, they get stuck in the mud, and they don’t know how to get out.Nam Yang: But, you guys have been here 30 years, other are coming endlessly; why did you let them lose focus?Ti Ba: These guys down here think narrow and short: they think that they can live for ever, and worst, they do not realize that clock keeps on ticking. New time, new era, new people. HCM, PVD, Vietminh, Vietcong, all gone. The US was our enemies, now Obama is the 1st US president to set foot on 17th parallel! 2016: new people, new set up, but the core tenet is always there: solidarity among the 2 people since 1955.Nam Yang: But you trained/brainwashed them and brought them here on 7 March 1979. Why didn’t you train them with broader vision?Ti Ba: We didn’t because we wanted them to stay local and narrow, so that we can keep them on check. But we now realize that they overstay their power. Therefore, we have to adjust our long-term strategies.Nam Yang: You know a lot about Khmer politics.Ti Ba: It’s called communications, and my friends in the shops here and there are all connected. We have a mission and we are not lazy.Nam Yang: Any idea what would be Ti Mauk’s suggestions?Ti Ba: We feed him, and let him decide. He’s OUR big boss.Nam Yang: Like what?Ti Ba: The bedroom saga took us by surprise. To mix politics with bedrooms is an error for amateur. The use of social media in politics and bragging about millions “like” is for greenhorn. Interior and Defence are not synchronized. Export of fish and timber to the North is down. Investments from and coziness with the Great Wall’s Northern Capital are getting too warm for comfort. Voters registration is too slow and chaotic for my other friends. There are no new faces for the future of our relations, the “kids” are a disaster!Nam Yang: You talk a lot, and my truck is not fixed yet.Ti Ba: Don’t worry. I’ll let the logger know that you’ll be there by 5.00 am tomorrow.Nam Yang: But I don’t have a place to sleep tonight.Ti Ba: Go across the street to the noodles shop, and tell the noodles man that Ti Bar sends you here for a dinner and a bed in the backroom. If you want other niceties, just let him know.Nam Yang: You are not going to video my evening and send it to “a cu”, are you?Ti Ba: No, if you stay out of politics.

It’s Monday in the City of Tonlé Buon Mouk, and does every new Monday resemble the ones that had passed?

Well, it does but also doesn’t. You draw a chart of “Does” and “Doesn’t” and the conclusion.

Be that as it may, Monday in Cambodia becomes a picture of a quagmire conceived and created by man or men with dark mind in a dark room. At the outset, the plot seemed to work according to the plan, with all the protagonists playing their role to the perfection as if they were puppets in a “shadow theater” (Sbèk Thom) animated behind the screen by an unknown master. The script was about a bedroom infidelity; the prop was a smart phone; the action was secret wiretapping; the stage was the social media; actors and actresses set for the show.

For about 2 to 3 weeks, it produced the expected outcome as the master has designed as ultimate objective: taking out all possible barriers to the 2017 and 2018 elections victories. So far, so good! The last page of the script marked “The End.”

Until the main thespian walked out of the script and tore the playbook to pieces! Then everybody, from the anti-terrorism and the anti-corruption to the tribunal and the police, had to scramble to force the thespian to succumb to the pressure impugned upon him. The master who wrote the script believes that he is a masterpiece and bestseller writer, also had to straggle like the extras: therefore, creating trumped charges with more police, more summons, more arrests and detentions of innocent people, more interrogations, more oppression and repression. This was not in the original script.

Kacvey, here is what happens to the quality of being vain: The unintended consequences of the repression is the mass rejection of such injustice and arbitrary detention. The rejection has been symbolized and actionable on Black Monday and a possible general mobilization if the thespian were to be arrested, and the submission of a petition with hundred of thousands of thumbprints to the king seeking the monarch to exercise his constitutional duty towards the liberation of the innocent victims. Again, this is not in the original script.

The events spiraled out of control on Friday 3 June 2016 when:
1. The Phnom Penh Post reported that: “Ministry official wary of Sokha arrest strategy“, and
2. The Cambodia Daily reported that: “King’s Letter Does Not Call for Fraud Probe”.

Thanks The Phnom Penh Post and The Cambodia Daily for your service to the people!

It looks like there is no end game for the master and the extras. They take one more step, and they are still in there, there is no way out. By scrambling and straggling without a plan, the master instead created an impromptu predicament with quicksand that will not be going away from his feet.